Drier



Nov. 30, 1937. c. w. GREENEv DRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20, 1935 DRIER W n O 13 w UL.. www 1 Q h H- m M h 1Q R Y. Y .,Q 1 Y 'wmv l 1 l.. 1f h m w C. W. GREENE Nov.. 30, -1937.

Filed sept. 2o, -1955 Nov. 30, 1937. C. W, GREENE 2,100,441

' DRIER Filed Sept. 20, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig 3. j

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Patented Nov. 30, 1937 UNIT-ED STATES rAT-ENT OFFICE Chester W. Greene, Lynn, Mass., assignor to lUnited Shoe .Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a 'corporation of New Jersey Application :September 20,1935, Serial No. 41,434 '7 claims. (o1. 19a-24) This invention relates to driers and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for drying soles which havebeen coated with cement.

In the manufacture of shoes-the solesof which are attached by cement, it is Ycustomary tocorat the attachingfaces -of the Vsoles with a cement, commonly a pyroxylin-cement, to Yallow the cement to dry and then, just prior to attaching the soles to shoes, to activate the cement by treating it with Va solvent. The illustratedmachine is particularly adapted to receive freshly cemented'soles one byone, to maintain them in separated relation for an interval during which they lare dried, and finally to arrange the dried soles in a stack.

According to one feature Yof the invention, there is provided Va. conveyor having -articlecarriers, means for operating the conveyor, and feeding Ymeans operated in timed relation to the operation of the conveyor for feeding an article into the path of the article carriers at .one locality and for feeding another 'article out of the path of the carriers at another locality.V In the illustrated machine, the conveyor has upwardly and downwardly extending runs provided with sole carriers, a freshly cemented Wet sole being fed into the path of the carriers at the bottom of the upwardly extending run while a dry sole is simultaneously fed out of the path of the carriers at the bottom of the downwardly extending `run and is added to the bottom of a stack.

In order to ensure that Vthe articles, whatever their size, shall be properly fed into the -path of movement of the article Icarriers and shall also be properly fed into the path of movement of .the stacking member, the feed members, -in accordance with another feature of the invention, are operated through yielding actuating mechanism in such manner as to feed all the articles, whatever their size, against abutments and hold them there until they are carried vaway either by the article carriers of the conveyor or by the stacking member.

These and other features of the invention, including certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will be vdescribed as embodied in an illustrated machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine in which the invention is embodied, the top of the machine being broken oi and the parts of the machine being shown in the positions in which they come to rest;

Fig. la is a detail principallyin longitudinal Y section of the clutch;

Fig. 2 is a-section of theV line II--II ofFig. 3,'

` the ,top of the machine being broken off Vand-the parts of the machine Ybeing shown inthe D051-,

tions they occupy Vat the end of the forward stroke of the feed members;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of vthe machine, "certain parts of the machinebetween the extreme upper end'and the Vbase having beenl removed. The machine comprises a base 9 inasocket in the upper partof which is threaded the lower. end of an Aupwardly extending rod II (Fig. 3) the upper end of which is threaded into the bottom of a sprocket support -I3 having rotatable therein a 'horizontal shaft I4 carrying "at Aits opposite ends two sprockets the hubs of which are indicated at I5, I6. Anut I'I threaded'on the upper part of the rod I-I engages-the under lside of the sprocket` support. Four stay frodsl having headed upper ends extend through lb'o'res in lugs on the sprocket support I3, their lower'ends f extending through bores 'in lugs I9 o'n the base and having nuts'ZI threaded on vtheir lower extremities. With this construction, the sprocket support I3 may be adjusted heightwise and firmly held in adjusted elevated position. Over the sprocket I5 and twosprockets 2'3 (Fig. 2) rotatably mounted in the Ybase of ,the machine extends a chain and over the sprocket IIS (Fig. 3) and two sprockets (not shown) which are alined respectively with the two sprockets 2'3 and like them are rotatably mounted in the base `of 'the machine, extends a second chain 29. These two chains which are alined with each other'have Y as a corresponding nger on the other chain,

and a pair of such ngers when in certain parts of the paths of the chains form a shelf or carrier for an article such as a sole which has been thrust upon them.v The chains are driven intermittently in unison by mechanism to be described later, the extent of each movement being equal to the distance between one carrier (composed of two fingers) and an adjacent .carrien There is thus provided a sole conveyor having agenerally triangular outline when Viewed from the side, as in Figs. 1 and 2, having at .the left an upwardly-traveling run, at the right a downwardly-traveling run, .and at the bottom a substantially horizontal run. The soles IIJE'Iv are fed one by one tol a carrier at the base of the upwardly-traveling left-hand' run,

are carried up over the sprockets I5, I6 and then down to the base of the right-hand run where they are removed one by one and stacked in a manner presently to be described. The movement of the conveyor is comparatively slow so that the soles have time to dry between the ltime they are placed on a carrier of the conveyor and the time they are removed therefrom. A rotary fan 59 (Fig. 1) is provided to directa current of air up through the machine to assist in the drying operation.

Extending lengthwise of the machine just above the horizontal run of the conveyor are two stationary horizontal rods 4|, 43 (Fig. 3) located in the same horizontal plane and spaced apart a distance greater than the distance between the outsides of the chains 25, 29 of the conveyor so that the conveyor travels between the rods. Referring now to Fig. 1 in which the machine is shown at rest the soles are placed one at a time, in the position occupied by the freshly cemented wet sole IQUA, upon two feed sleeves 45, one of which appears in this figure, the sleeve which appears being slidably mounted on the rod 4| and the other sleeve on the rod 43. When the machine is actuated, this sole is fed to the right in position to be picked up by a pair of fingers 3| which presently move up from below and lift the sole from the feed sleeves 45. At the same time that a freshly cemented sole |95A is thus fed to the conveyor, a dry sole OB, which has been deposited by the conveyor upon the rods 4|, 43, is being fed to the right in position to be lifted off the rods and added to the bottom of a stack of dry soles, indicated as a whole at |060. This simultaneous feeding of two soles, a wet one IUUA into the path of the conveyor, and a dry one |66B out of the path of the conveyor results from the simultaneous reciprocation of the pair of feed sleeves 45 referred to above and a second pair of feed sleeves 46 which, like the sleeves 45, are also slidably mounted one on each of the rods 4|, 43. Each sleeve 45 carries a wet sole feed member one of which is shown at 41, and each sleeve 46 carries a dry sole feed member one of which is shown at 49. 'Ihe four feed members are all mounted in the same manner and consequently only the mounting of the member 41 will be described in detail. This member is pivoted at 48 to a bracket 58 carried by the sleeve 45. A tension spring 52 normally holds the feed member in the angular position shown about its pivot 48, the limit of counterclockwise movement being determined by contact of the feed member with a portion of the bracket 55. When the pair of feed members 41 are moved to the right, they push the sole IUBA forward (the feed members 41, as will presently appear, exerting a yielding push) until its leading edge contacts with the chains 25, 29 of the conveyor; and then, while the feed members 41 are still holding the sole against the chains, the sole is lifted by a pair of ngers 3| which presently swing up from below. The feed members 49 for the dry soles, such as the sole |9913, push the soles along the rods 4|, 43 against an abutment,

Still referring to Fig. 2 in which the feed members 41, 49 are shown at the limit of their forward movement after the respective wet and dry soles have been removed from in front of them, the mechanism for reciprocating these feed members will be described. The pair of sleeves 45 and the pair of sleeves 46 are both actuated from a forked lever 5|, both arms of which are shown in Fig. 3. The base of this forked lever is pivoted to the frame at 53 and carries a roll 55 which runs on a repeating cam 35| mounted on a shaft 51 to which are intermittently imparted half-revolutions. The cam 35| is termed a repeating cam because a plane can be passed through it perpendicular to its plane which will divide it into two symmetrical parts, the action of the'cam on the roll 55 for each half-revolution of the shaft 51 being exactly the same. The roll 55 is held against the cam by a tension spring 58 (Fig. 1), one end of which is fastened to the 'f lever 5| and the other end to a pin'in the frame of the machine. One of the arms of the forked lever 5| (the left-hand end of Fig. 3) is connected to the feed sleeves 45 and 46 which are slidable on the rod 4|, and the other arm of the forked lever 5| is connected to the feed sleeves 45 and 46 which are slidable on the rod 43. Iiiasmuch as these connections, one seton one side and the other set on the other side of the machine, are the same, only one set of connections will be described in detail. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the arm of the forked lever 5| which appears in those figures has pivoted to its upper end at 59 one of the ends of two links 6|, 63. To the other end of the link 6| is pivoted at 65 the lower end of a link 61, the upper end of which is pivoted at 69 to a lug on the sole-feeding sleeve 46. A stop screw 1| threaded through the link 61 is normally held in engagement with an abutment on the link 6| by a torsion spring 13 (Fig. g.'

3) said spring being fast at one end to the pivot 65 carried by the link 61 and at the other end to the link 6|. The links 6|, 61 are thus yieldingly held in the relative positions shown until the feed member 49 has fed a dried sole to the right against the abutment 68 and can move no farther, after which the angle between the two links is increased while the forked lever 5| swings farther to the right. As soon as the sole is removed from in front of the feed member 49, the torsion spring 13 restores the links 6|, 61 to the relative angular positions shown, and the feed member 49 moves to the right into the position shown in Fig. 2. 'Ihe link 63 is pivoted at its lefthand end at 15 to the lower end of a link 11, the upper end of which is pivoted at 19 to a lug on the sleeve 45. A stop screw 8| threaded through the link 11 is held in engagement with an abutment on the link 63 by a torsion spring, not shown, like the torsion spring 13 described above which performs a similar function with respect to the links 6|, 61. The connections between the forked lever 5| and the feed sleeves 45, 46 which slide on the rod 4| on one side of the machine have just been described. The connections between the forked .lever and the companion sleeves 45, 46 which slide on the rod 43 on the other side of the machine are like those which have been described. The machine comes to rest as has been stated in the position shown in Fig. l. In the operation of the machine, the operator places a freshly cemented sole IDEA on the feed sleeves 45 and throws in a clutch which imparts a half-revolution to the shaft 51, during which half-revolution the forked lever 5| Cil first swings forward into the position shown in Fig. .2 and then back into the position of rest in Fig. V1.

YReferring to Figs. 1 and 2, the mechanism for lifting 'the dry soles from the rods 4|, 43 and stacking them will fbe described. The stack of soles |91!C is normally supported on two spaced" parallel rods 83 horizontally slidable throughv bores in a part of the frame. The rods 93 have enlarged outer portions having bores parallel to the axes of the rod to receive guide rods 91 carried by the framerof the machine. These enlarged outer portions also have bores extending horizontally at right angles to the axes lof the rods to receive cylindrical reduced ends of the T-shaped head (Fig. 3) of a lever 85 which is thus pivoted to the enlarged outer port-ions of the stack-supporting rods 83. The lever 85V is pivoted at its inner end at 89 to the Yupper end of a lever 9| the lower end of which is pivoted to the fra-me at 93,'said lever carrying a roll {i5-which runs on a repeating cam 39| mount'- ed on the shaft 51. A spring, not shown, like the tension Vspring 58v (Fig. 1) holds the'roll against the-cam. Normally Vheld beneath the stack of soles and below the level of the rods 4|, 43 (Fig. 1) is a lifter 91 in the form of a fork the tops of the armsV of which are located near enough to each other so that the fork may be pushed up between the rods 4|, 43 to remove a sole therefrom, said lifter being reciprocated vertically by a lever 99 the forked outer end of which has rolls 19| which engage a spool |93 fast -to the stem |95 of the lifter, said stem being vertically slidable in spaced bearings |91 in the frame of the machine. The lever 99 is pivoted 'at |09 to a rigid part of the machine and carries a roll which runs on a repeating cam ||-3 which is fast to the shaft 51. A tension spring I4 holds the roll in contact with the cam. 'I'he caml 35| which causes horizontal reciprocation of the sole-feeding members, the cam 39| which causes horizontal reciprocation of the stack-supporting rods 83, and the cam; ||3 which causes vertical reciprocation of the lifter 91 are so shaped and timed that at every half-revolution of the shaft 51, the following movements occur. YA dry sole |09B (Fig. 1) is fed to the right from the conveyor until its leading edge encounters the wall or abutment 58. The lifter 91 moves up to lift the sole from the rods 4|, (i3, and pauses in a position just beneath the stacksupporting rods 83. The rods 83 are then moved to the right from beneath the stack, and the lifter rises farther to a level above that of the rods 83 and pauses a second time. This is the position of parts shown in Fig. 2. The rods 83 are then moved back beneath the stack, and the lifter returns to its position of rest, as shown in Fig. 1.

Any suitable operator-controlled mechanism may be employed for imparting half-revolutions to the shaft 51, and, through these half-revolutions, intermittent movements' of proper length to the conveyor. To this end, in the illustrated machine, a Geneva escapement comprising a star wheel ||1 (from which the conveyor is driven) and a cooperating pin-member ||9 are provided, the pin-member ||9 being fast to the cam shaft- 51 and carrying on pivots |29 two small rolls |2| which are normally received in adjacent recesses in the star wheel. The pivots of the rolls on the pin-member ||9 project from one side of the pin-member, the projecting end of one of these pivots being shown in Fig. 3. When ots is engaged by a vhook at the upper end of a catch |23 .pivoted vat .|25 to the outer end of the machineis at rest (Fig.v 1) one of thesepiv'-V` a horizontal arm |21, the hub of which is fastVVV to a short rockshaft |29. The catch |23 `isfheld in vengagement with a pivot |20 by a small com- 'Y pression spring |3| located in a socket' lin ther arm |21 which acts to Swing the catch counterclockwise about its pivot |25, said swinging movement being limited by an abutment on the arm |21. Fast to the rockshaft |29, to which the Y. hub of the horizontal arm |21 is fast, is also fast which-tends always to slide the member |31 to the right and thus to throw in theA clutch. The member |31 is slidably. keyed to a sleeve `|4| which is fastened to a shaft |43 byraset screw |45, there being threaded into the outer end of the sleeve a screw |41 against the ihead of which-one end of the spring |39 bears., Mounted on the sleeve 54| is a constantly rotating Vpulley |49 which is connected to the shaft |43 to rotate it Vwhenever the member |31V is per-k` 4 mitted to be moved to the right bythe'compression spring |39. shown, the clutch is being held with its parts disengaged. In order to trip the catch |23 to throw in the clutch, there is pivoted to theY lower end of the catch the lower end of a long rod |5|, the upper end of which is pivotedto the upper end of an arm |53, the hub of saidv arm being fast to a rockshaft |55. Also fast to this rockshaft is the hub of a hand lever |51 whichis swung to the left by the operator'and then released every time he places a freshly cemented sole IBSA on the feed sleeves 45. .Swinging the hand lever to the left disengages the catch |23 from the pivot of the roll of the pin-member In the Vposition of parts H9, which it is then engaging, and permits Athe Y compression spring |39 (Fig. la) to throw in the clutch. This starts rotation ofthe shaft |43 (Fig. 3) which carries a worm |59 meshing'withA a worm |61 on the shaft 51. and thereby starts.V

The pin-member ||9v rotation of said shaft 51. v (Fig.r l), as has been stated, is fast to the shaft 51; and, when this member has made a vhalf revolution in the direction indicated by the ar-Y row, the pivot pin of the -other roll of thekpinmember is caught by the catch |23, thereby pulling up the arm |21, swinging'the arm |33 to the left and throwing out the clutch. The pin- `V member, in making this half-revolution, turns the star wheel H1 through an angle determined by the distance between the recesses in its vperiphery. This star wheel, as has been stated, drives the conveyor. This is accomplished (Fig. 3) by a chain |63 which passes around a sprocket on the'hub of the star wheel and a sprocket on the shaft |31 which carries one of the sprockets 23 for the chain 25 and one of the sprockets 21 forthe chain 29. y

'Ihe fan 39 referred to above is fast to the upper end of a vertical shaft l1! which carries a pulley |13. Around t is pulley, over guide-pulleys |15, |11 and around the left-hand groove (Figs. 1, la) of the driving pulley |49, extends a belt |19. The pulley |49 is continuouslykdriven by a belt |8|` from a source of power, not shown.r VConsequently, the fan 39 is also continuously driven irrespective of whether the clutch shown` in Fig. 1a is operative or inoperative. In order that the 'fingers 3| may be held perpendicular to the chains 25, 29 on the upward and downward runs of these chains, said chains are of the well-known anti-whip type.

A brief summary of the operation of the machine will now be given. Assuming that the upward and downward extending runs o-f the conveyor carry the soles as shown in Figs. l and 2, and that the machine has come to rest as shown in Fig. 1, the operator places a freshly cemented sole on the feed sleeves d5 in the position occupied by the sole GA, swings the handle |51 to the left and then releases it. Swinging the handle in this manner disengagesthe catch |23 from the pinmember ||9 and permits the compression spring |39 (Fig. 1a) to throw in the clutch. At the end of a half-revolution of the pin-member H9 and the shaft 51, the catch |23 will engage the other piovt pin on the pin-member so that the arm |21 will be swung up and the arm |33 swung to the left, said latter arm acting to throw out the clutch. During the half-revolution thus imparted to the shaft 51, the following movements will occur. The feed members d1 will feed the wet sole IllA against the chains 25, 29 of the conveyor. The feed member d will feed the dry sole |993 against the abutment 68. As has been explained there isa resilient drive mechanism for operating these feed members. While the feed members are still being urged to the right, a pair of vfingers 3i will lift the sole liA from in front of the feed meinbers 41, and the lifter 91 of the stacking mechanism will lift the sole IUGB from in front of the feed members a9 to a point near the stack-supporting rods SS where it pauses while those rods are moved horizontally from beneath the stack, after which the lifter completes its upward movement. By the time the shaft 51 has made a quarter-revolution, the parts will be in the positions shown in Fig. 2. At the end of the halfrevolution of the shaft, they will have returned to the positions shown in Fig. 1.

Although the invention has been set forth as embodied in a particular machine, it will be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine which has been shown and described.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers, said conveyor having upwardly and downwardly traveling runs, means for operating the conveyor, spaced supporting rods extending lengthwise of the machine in proximity to the runs, feeding means one for feeding articles to be dried into the path of the carriers and one for feeding dry articles out of the path of the carriers, said feeding means being slidably mounted on the rods, and means for operating said feeding means in timed relation to the operation of the conveyor.

2..A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers, said conveyor having upwardly and downwardly traveling runs, means for operating the conveyor, spaced supporting rods extending from front to rear of the machine in proximity to the conveyor, feeding means slidably mounted on the rods, means for operating the feeding means in timed relation to the operation of the conveyorto feed articles to be dried into the path of the carriers and to deliver dried articles out of said path, a stack support located above the level at which the 'dried articles are delivered, a stacking member for the dried articles, and means for operating the stack support and the stacking member in timed relation with the feeding means and with each other.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers mounted in spaced relation thereon, means for operating the conveyor, and yieldingly actuated reciprocating means for pushing an article against the conveyor between two article carriers and for holding it in, that position yieldingly until a carrier engages it and carries it away.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers mounted in spaced relation thereon, means for intermittently operating the conveyor, and yieldingly actuating reciprocating means for pushing an article against the conveyor between two article carriers and for holding it in that position yieldingly until a carrier engages it and carries it away..

5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers from which articles are fed at one locality, a stack support near said locality, an abutment at a lower level than the stack support, a stacking member movable from a position below the abutment to a position above the stack support,` and means for feeding an article away from the conveyor and against the abutment and for holding the article in that position until the stacking member carries it toward the stack support.

6. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers, means for causing the conveyor to travel in a path having upwardly and downwardly extending runs and a substantially horizontal run connecting the bases of the two first runs, supporting means extending substantially parallel to the horizontal run, feeding means one for feeding articles to be dried into the path of the carriers and one for feeding dry articles out of the path of the carriers, and feeding means being slidably mounted on the supporting means, and means for operating said feeding means in timed relation to the operation of the conveyor.

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a conveyor provided with article carriers, means for operating the conveyor, feeding means, means for operating the feeding means in timed relation to the operation of the conveyor to feed articles to be dried into the path of the carriers and to deliver dry articles out of said path, a stack support located above the level at which the dry articles are delivered, a stacking member for the dry articles, and means for operating the stack support and stacking member in timed relation with the feeding means and with each other.

CHESTER W. GREENE.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,lOO,}i) l November 50, 1957.

CHESTER W. GREENE.

It is hereby certified that'error appears in the printed specification vof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 1|., second column, line 25, claim LL, for theword "actuating" read actuated; line 52,YL

claim 6, for "and" read said; and that said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

signed and sealed this 22nd day of February, A. D. i958.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

